Pat McKeough

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.

As early as 1980, Pat was recognized as #1 in the world of published investment advice by the Washington, DC–based Newsletter Publishers Association, and he was the first multi-year winner of The Globe and Mail’s stock picking contest.

Both CBS MarketWatch and The Hulbert Financial Digest recognized Pat as one of North America’s top stock analysts. The Wall Street Journal called him “one of only four investment newsletter advisors who have managed to serve their readers well over the long haul.”

A best-selling Canadian author, he wrote Riding the Bull, his 1993 book that predicted the stock-market boom of the last half of that decade. Through his many television appearances, he is well-known to investors for his insightful analysis and his candid, unpretentious style.

Bottom line: Pat’s conservative, reduced-risk strategy is a proven approach to safe investing.

IBM $163.16 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 984.7 million; Market cap: $162.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.2%; www.ibm.com) has formed an alliance with Box Inc. (New York symbol BOX), which sells cloud-storage services to businesses.

Under the deal, IBM will develop programs that combine its analytics software with Box’s cloud-based data. It will also integrate some of Box’s programs with its business email and online collaboration services, while Box’s clients will gain access to IBM’s consultants and online security technologies.

Teaming up with Box should help IBM compete with cloud-computing providers like Amazon.com and Oracle.

...
ENERPLUS CORP. $10.14 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 206.2 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.9%) produces an average of 100,855 barrels of oil equivalent a day (57% gas and 43% oil). Its properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as in the Marcellus shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

Enerplus’s production rose 2.1% in the quarter ended March 31, 2015, but that wasn’t enough to offset sharply lower oil and gas prices; cash flow per share fell 51.4%, to $0.53 from $1.09.

Like ARC, Enerplus will cut spending this year. Its outlays will now total $480 million, down 40.8% from $811.0 million in 2014.

...
ARC RESOURCES $21.14 (Toronto symbol ARX; Shares outstanding: 340.0 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 5.7%; www.arcresources.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its average daily output of 120,354 barrels of oil equivalent is 64% gas and 36% oil. In the quarter ended March 31, 2015, ARC’s cash flow per share fell 38.7%, to $0.57 from $0.93 a year earlier. Production gained 13.9%, but its realized oil price fell 49.0% and its gas price declined 45.5%. Like many oil and gas producers, ARC is cutting back on exploration and development spending. This year, it will devote $550.0 million to this purpose, down sharply from $945.5 million in 2014....
BCE INC. $52.91 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 847.9 million; Market cap: $45.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.bce.ca) continues to expand its Fibe TV and high-speed Internet networks.

BCE aims to increase Fibe speeds in Toronto to 1,000 megabits a second, or 5.7 times faster than its current top speed of 175 megabits. Faster networks will help BCE hang on to its current customers and compete with cable companies.

The company will spend $1.14 billion on these improvements, which will eventually reach 1.1 million Toronto homes and businesses. It will also speed up its Fibe networks in other cities in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

...

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $36.94
(Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 77.6 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.0%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 142 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 9.5 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors.

Allied spent $400 million on properties in 2012, $182.4 million in 2013 and $234.9 million in 2014. In the first quarter of 2015, it added two more for $31.8 million.

...
CENOVUS ENERGY $18.66 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares outstanding: 828.5 million; Market cap: $15.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.7%; www.cenovus.com) gets 35% of its revenue from its oil sands projects and conventional oil and gas wells in Western Canada.

Refining supplies the remaining 65% of Cenovus’s revenue. The company ships oil to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX) owns the other 50% of these operations.

Cenovus has now agreed to sell its royalty lands to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $3.3 billion. The company collects royalties from firms that drill for oil and gas on these properties, which total 4.8 million acres in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

...
GREAT-WEST LIFECO $36.57 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 997.4 million; Market cap: $36.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.6%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is one of Canada’s largest insurance firms. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Financial owns 67.1% of Great-West.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Great-West’s earnings per share rose 18.6%, to $0.70 from $0.59 a year earlier.

The company’s expansion in the U.S. and Ireland continues, helping it end the latest quarter with $1.2 trillion of assets under administration. That’s up 46.0% from $805.9 billion a year earlier and 102.6% from $581.9 million on March 31, 2013.

...
BLACKBERRY INC. $10 (www.blackberry.com) aims to unlock more of its QNX software’s value; QNX powers communication and entertainment systems in 60 million cars. The application has 50% of this market but faces strong competition from Microsoft and free Linux-based systems....
RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $51 (www.rbi.com) has joined McDonald’s and KFC in bringing back old mascots. The company’s Burger King chain is now using its big-headed “King” mascot for the first time since 2011....